LOWER ANIMALS. 221 



as a trotter, he is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the 

 production of speed in the next generation. In fact, all of the 

 very great sires, with one exception, have themselves been sons 

 of unusually old sires. Hambletonian, the greatest of all sires 

 and from whom are descended practically all of the horses exhibit- 

 ing excessive speed as trotters, was foaled in 1849 an< ^ was the son 

 of a horse 26 years of age. The average age of the six known 

 sires in the pedigree of Hambletonian was 20.3 years, and those 

 of the five known dams averaged more than 15 years. No other 

 known horse is descended from such a uniform series of old sires 

 and old dams. 



THE GREATEST SIRES OF SPEED. 



In this examination I found five horses which stood out pre- 

 eminently as appearing more frequently in the pedigrees of per- 

 formers than did other horses. The ages of the sires of these five 

 horses averaged 18.6 years, and the ages of their grandsires aver- 

 aged 21 years. These extraordinary ages appearing in preceding 

 generations and serving as a basis for speed in succeeding genera- 

 tions are confirmatory of what is only partially shown in man, and 

 furnish an explanation of why some of our eminent men have been 

 sons of comparatively young men. 



The one exception of a great sire not being the son of an old 

 horse is the case of George Wilkes, and is exceedingly instructive. 

 George Wilkes was the son of Hambletonian when seven years old. 

 He was a small horse, was sneered at as "a pony," and not being 

 considered of much value for breeding purposes was kept as a racing 

 stallion. During the first seventeen years of his life he was trained 

 and raced more than any other stallion that ever lived. Having 

 outlived his usefulness as a race horse he was sent to the stud as 

 the only thing to be done with him, and during the few remaining 



